Deptford High Street Goes Digital
‘MoreForMe’ a new Digital High Street app that refunds parking fees for shoppers and encourages local spend is launching this month in Deptford.
Better Cities, a London-based smart city technology company, have been working in partnership with Lewisham Council to launch the MoreForMe app which allows people to refund their parking in return for minimum spend in shops, and to catch up on the latest news from participating retailers, each time they visit the High Street.
The free MoreForMe app can be downloaded onto a smartphone or tablet and works once an activation QR code has been scanned at stickers on the parking meters or in participating stores. Shoppers can then shop at their favourite participating retailer, make the minimum purchase and scan the store QR code in the shop. The retailer will then give a discount off the purchase price to the shopper.
Shoppers can continue the process in other participating stores on the High Street, effectively wiping out their parking fee, with the added benefit of saving even more money, the more they spend.
Participating retailers in Deptford will have branded MoreForMe signage in stores, and more businesses and new High Streets are being added each week.
Cllr Rachel Onikosi, Cabinet Member for the Public Realm, said: ‘We want to support our traders and encourage more people to shop locally. We have collaborated with local retailers and Better Cities Ltd on this initiative, which we think is a win-win all round. The shopper benefits by saving money on their parking fee from their purchases and retailers benefit by having customers who visit, dwell and spend more.’
Adrian Ulisse, CEO & Founder of Better Cities, said: ‘We are delighted that Lewisham Council are one of the first local authorities to support this initiative. The MoreForMe App brings the rewards of collaboration and digitisation to High Street businesses and addresses the disproportionate impact that parking fees has on shoppers. It puts the power back in the hands of local retailers by allowing them to set their own minimum spend and discount levels. We hope that London shoppers will feel the benefit in their pockets for being one of the first in the UK to adopt such an innovative service which aims to help High Streets around the UK compete in this digital age.’
ENDS
Notes to editors:
1. The Council will fund the initiative in Deptford High Street until the end of December 2016.
2. The MoreForMe app can be downloaded for free in the Apple and Android app stores, more information at www.moreformehighst.com.
3. Better Cities Ltd www.bettercities.city are also rolling out the MoreForMe app in Blackheath Village in Lewisham, with other locations in the pipeline.
4. Better Cities Ltd is a London-based Smart City technology company who have been working in the smart city space for eight years. They are a member of the Government’s Ministerial Smart City Forum and are a resident innovator at the Urban Innovation Centre in London, which is part of the Government's Future Cities Catapult.